Approximately twelve months previously at the Nevada Grand Prix, the Cadillac racing team were ultimately granted the green light as the world of Formula One's newest entrant for the 2026 season. Establishing the organization from scratch has required a frenetic pace of work that the team principal, Graeme Lowdon, has likened to the Apollo program. As F1 arrives on Vegas this race weekend, Cadillac understand time is getting tight.
The Tight Timeline to Australia
At the final race of the season to be held in the America, with around three months to go before they make their debut for the first time in Australia at the 2026 season opener, Cadillac have advanced rapidly but, in what must seem like a sisyphean task, they are cognizant there will never be enough hours in the day.
The chief technical officer, Nick Chester, became part of the nascent team in the spring of 2023 shortly after it was formed, when the team were without even an confirmed place. He has been at its center from that point and gets a knowing grin when considering the ride.
“There might be five minutes reflecting at what you’ve done and think: ‘Incredible, how impressive what we’ve done in less than three years,’” he says. “Then the very next instant you consider: ‘Well, there is still a significant amount to do.’”
A One-of-a-Kind Challenge
The CTO achieved victories at the Renault team in Alonso's title-winning campaigns of 2005/2006 and was in command of technical direction at the recently formed Mercedes-Benz Formula E team, but no previous experience has truly matched the mission of introducing the all-American Cadillac name, a factory team supported by the owner, General Motors, into Formula One.
“Building an grand prix team from nothing, when will you ever have the possibility to do that?” he says. “It is like nothing else. In an established team you rarely get the opportunity to change organizational mindset.”
With each passing day that goes by thoughts are more focused on the looming moment of truth in the Australian GP and targets are being set realistically.
“One must presume that any incoming team coming in is likely to start at the back but simply getting on to the grid will be an feat in itself,” the team principal stated recently and while the CTO shared this view he thought the squad had a reputation to build as well.
“The initial objective we intend to prove is that we belong on the grid,” Chester explains. “So we show up and we operate well. We want to show that we are a serious contender doing the correct procedures on the track. When we have demonstrated that our credentials are solid, then we want to show improvement subsequently.”
Racing Talent and Hiring Drive
In the summer they contracted Sergio Pérez and Valtteri as their drivers for the 2026 season, a tandem notable for their vast knowledge in operating at the sharp end in two of the sport’s biggest teams, the Red Bull team and Mercedes-AMG, and Valtteri Bottas expressed the mood of fighting spirit.
“Of course, we are pragmatic,” he commented. “There’s going to be a mountain of work to do, and it will likely be almost certainly a challenging beginning, because this is Formula One. But we’re not there to stay at the back. I believe given this organization, with this group, these people, it's entirely possible we shouldn’t be able to advance swiftly to the front and enjoy some success.”
To achieve that goal staff acquisition has been in overdrive, with employees now at more than 400 and intended to hit the target of 600 swiftly. Complementing their present headquarters at the Silverstone circuit, the team are in the phase of building an HQ at Fishers in Indy and there is the General Motors facility in Charlotte, where they are constructing the center to produce the power unit, scheduled for 2029 – until then they will use Ferrari engines – and the aerodynamic facility in Cologne, Germany. It is a sophisticated organisation, different from the trend in Formula One for greater centralisation, and has prompted the innovative team culture to which the CTO referred.
NASA Blueprint
“It’s highly modelled on the Apollo project,” remarked Lowdon ahead of the British GP in the summer. “We are pragmatic, we understand how tough it is. The deadlines, are extremely compressed. Well, it's not a space expedition, but it feels like it sometimes.”
So they have implemented, rather than the traditional management structure, a non-hierarchical approach similar to that of NASA's, where there were a range of project teams all focusing on different aspects of the project in a different facilities.
“In a system where you follow a process where someone has a problem and they report it to their manager, that leader communicates with a supervisor somewhere else, it goes back down the chain, it becomes inefficient,” says Chester. “So we empower staff to really get on with it. Eliminating hierarchical consent for everything is far more efficient and faster.”
What Lies Ahead
The success of this nimble methodology will be proven in the intensity of Grand Prix when the season begins and there is a significant degree at stake for the sport, too. The Cadillac team have signed as their reserve driver the young Californian Colton Herta
